How a Disney star and a vampire found fame on TikTok
I was truly a little ashamed when I downloaded TikTok at the start of quarantine. It already had some buzz, but it was still mainly dancing videos.
Yet, like most of the country, I learned why the app had so much hype within a few days. Similar to vine (r.i.p.), I found myself aimlessly scrolling, genuinely losing track of time.
While some creators took to funny, more millennial-aimed content, Gen Z’s biggest influencers today are dancers from TikTok; and the songs behind every dance Charli pulls out of her bank of 20 movements are blowing up in the matter of hours.
Whether it's one line or even a word from a song, many artists are gaining and regaining fame overnight. Take Olivia Rodrigo, for example.
17-year-old Olivia Rodrigo started her career on the Disney show Bizaardvark and currently stars in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, which I barely knew existed until today.
The actress’s debut single “drivers license” made it to TikTok and effectively shook the music industry yet again.
In the first week of the release on January 8, it practically broke Spotify and quickly hit no.1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. In one week worldwide, “drivers license” had more than 76.1 million streams. For some perspective, that’s the highest total since “WAP” – Sorry Cardi and Meg.
Also, the music video hit no.1 on YouTube in 14 countries.
Even Rodrigo’s musical hero, Taylor Swift, commented on her Instagram after the two artists found their names next to each other at the top of the iTunes chart: “I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud.”
The emotionally potent nature of the song is clearly resonating with people, but there is absolutely no way the track would have skyrocketed like this without the help of social media. So seriously...what is the deal with TikTok?
Every couple of years, a new social media platform takes charge, but never like this before. Gen Z has a devotion to this app like no other.
Most of this obsession relates back to the iPhone generation. Anyone born before 2007 experienced the world without a smartphone, meanwhile, there are 7-year-olds on my For You Page every day.
Bill Gates suggests that on average, kids are getting their first smartphone at 10.3 years old, and by age 12, 50% of them have social media accounts.
While “drivers license” may subjectively be a good song, Chase Hudson, or Lil Huddy, from TikTok dropped the worst song of 2021: “21st Century Vampire”.
I’ve come across his account a couple times, but usually other people meme-ing him and pointing out how cringey the Hype House is. This song is blatantly awful and the music video is straight up scary.
The lyrics don't really go beyond the title; Huddy laments about the bags under his eyes, his excessive sleeping and inability to fall in love. He’s suggesting he might actually be a vampire, but this behavior sounds like most teenagers today.
With such fame from Tik Tok, including all the drama and talk beyond the app, “21st Centry Vampire” will probably outstream your favorite lowkey artists, who you actually respect. It’s already at 1,280,551 streams and it dropped this past Friday.
TikTok can be a really amazing platform for some artists to get heard, mainly those catering to the e-girl and e-boy bedroom pop vibe, but I have a new appreciation for songs that are NOT on TikTok.
The music industry has shifted; the authenticity and excitement of music fades after hearing the same verse so many times, and I truly miss listening to a song without automatically picturing a TikTok that made it famous.
It’s really crazy how good 15-year-olds are at discovering new songs to ruin. We can only hope some of our most prized songs stay far away from TikTok.
Written by Stevie Kane, Edited by Emma Barsky
